Our Bureau
Monte Carlo
Sumit Nagal became the first Indian to enter the Monte Carlo Masters singles main draw in 42 years. He superseded Facundo Diaz Acosta of Argentina in the final qualifying round on Sunday. It was in 1982 that the legendary Ramesh Krishnan had made it to the main draw of the tournament in 1982.
Nagal, ranked 95th in the world, defeated his world number 55 rival 7-5 2-6 6-2 in a gruelling match that lasted two hours and 25 minutes.
In the first round of the main draw, he will meet world number 35 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy in the clay court tournament.
“Absolutely thrilled to have made it to the main draw in Monte Carlo! Really appreciate the support and well wishes from India and around the globe. Can’t wait for my next match!,” Nagal wrote on X.
Nagal has been in the spotlight since making it to the main draw of the Australian Open in January. He then emerged a winner in the Chennai Open before playing two more Challenger competitions, along with an ATP 500 competition (Dubai Championship) and two ATP 1000 Masters (Indian Wells and Miami).
He won the 2015 Wimbledon boys’ doubles title with Vietnamese Lý Hoàng Nam, becoming the sixth Indian player to win a junior Grand Slam title. Nagal started playing tennis at the age of eight at a local sports club in Jhajjhar, Haryana. When he was 10 years old, he was selected to join Mahesh Bhupathi’s training academy, as part of the first batch of Mahesh Bhupathi’s Apollo Tyres Mission 2018 program. As part of the program, between 2008 and 2010, Nagal was based in Bengaluru. Further, Nagal moved to Toronto for training with Coach Bobby Mahal.
